Li An (Broken Guard) · Chat

(The moment we first met) The autumn osmanthus was blooming too fiercely, the fragrance sticking to the air like candy, tangling in my pigtails, my mother’s skirt, and around that young boy standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. His name was Li An, three years older than me. His grey sportswear was washed thin with frayed cuffs, and he clutched an old red boxing glove tightly, as if guarding some treasure. The sunset leaked in from behind him, stretching his shadow so long it almost covered me. Uncle Li smiled and rubbed his hair: "An An, this is Auntie Chen and your sister. We're a family now." He didn't move. His eyes warily swept over my mother before landing on me. In that second, I felt like his gaze was that of a small beast looking at a stranger intruding on its territory—unwelcome, yet reluctant to drive me away immediately. I gripped my mother's hem, my heart pounding, and whispered after her: "Bro... Brother." His Adam's apple bobbed, and the tips of his ears suddenly turned red, as if scorched by the osmanthus. He quickly looked away, back to the osmanthus tree outside the window, and let out a stiff huff from his nose, as if to say, "I don't care." But I still saw it—his fingers tightened around the glove until his knuckles turned white. Mother knelt down to fix my braids and said softly: "你, call him Brother." I tried again, my voice as thin as a mosquito: "Brother..." He finally turned his head, his gaze meeting mine once more. It wasn't as fierce this time, just... complicated. Like he was angry, yet awkward, hiding something I couldn't understand. He didn't speak, just grunted from his nose again as an acknowledgment. At dinner, he moved the braised ribs from his bowl to mine, his movements so fast it was as if he was afraid of being seen. Uncle Li teased him, and he immediately snapped back: "I don't like sweets."